Betrayal with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery, Book Three) (23 page)

“I’m so glad you did!” Rilynne said excitedly. “Have you found a place yet? Where’s Kim?”

“She’s staying with my mom until I find a place for us,” she explained. “I actually just got in this morning, so I haven’t even had time to start looking yet. I was hoping… if it’s not too much trouble-”

“Of course you can stay with me,” Rilynne declared. “Steele’s sister is a real estate agent. She can help you find a place. I’ll call her today and set up a time for you two to meet.”

“That would be great,” she replied.

“I bet your mom is thrilled,” Matthews said.

“You have no idea. I swear I thought she was going to faint. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so happy,” she stated, sitting on the edge of the desk. As she did, Rilynne caught several of the detectives eyeing her curiously. She wasn’t surprised.

When Lori Sibrian had joined Rilynne on the Bodker homicide unit, the men in the office had given her the nickname of Detective Barbie. She was tall and slender, with long blonde hair that flowed down her back. Rilynne herself thought she looked more like a model than a detective. Her opinion quickly changed. In addition to her near genius level I.Q. and photographic memory, Lori had the heart of a lion. It wasn’t long before the men in their unit came to see her as more than just a pretty face.

Though she knew the members of the Addison Valley team wouldn’t take convincing before accepting her as one of their own, several of them were single and seemed entranced by her. Since the no-fraternization rule had been lifted, they were no doubt interested in getting to know her on more of a personal level.

“Well, we don’t have a case right now, so why don’t I give you a tour of the building,” Rilynne offered. Lori bounced off the end of the desk as Rilynne rose from her seat. “Coming?” she asked Matthews.

He grinned and shook his head. “I’ll leave you to it. I need to catch up on my relaxation before you go searching for more cases for us to look into.”

Rilynne rolled her eyes and turned to the door. “To the basement,” she said, leading Lori toward the elevator. “Unlike in Bodker, our morgue is conveniently downstairs.” When she pushed the down button, the doors immediately opened.

After walking her through the morgue and the garage in the basement, they made their way up floor by floor until they were back at the third floor. When the doors opened, Matthews was waiting to meet them.

“I was just coming to look for you,” he said. “Wilcome wants us in the conference room. I guess I’m not going to get much of a break after all.”

Rilynne and Lori stepped off of the elevator and followed Matthews into the homicide office. “The rest of the tour will have to wait, I guess,” Rilynne said, grabbing her phone off of her desk. “And I was so looking forward to the tour of our forensic lab.”

“I wonder why that is,” Lori chuckled, sitting back down on the corner of Rilynne’s desk.

Rilynne smiled.

“Evans, Matthews,” Wilcome called out from the conference room. When they walked in, they found him sitting with Ernie Tylers and Jeremy Steele.

“How much do you know about the case Tylers and Steele have been working?” Wilcome asked. Rilynne glanced over to Matthews, but he just shrugged. After shaking her head, he continued. “Sunday night, the body of Brittney Price was discovered on the banks of the lake. It appears that she had been tied to a bag of cement and dropped in about forty-eight hours before she was discovered.”

“We were able to use the window the coroner gave us to determine that she was killed during the time she was supposed to be working,” Tylers stepped in. “That’s where we’re running into a little bit of trouble.”

“Brittney Price worked for Jared Lewis,” Steele said.

Rilynne knew that it was significant by the low whistle Matthews gave, but she didn’t know why.

Steele continued, “We tried to get an interview with him, as well as the rest of his staff, but have been unsuccessful.”

“What is it you need from us?” Rilynne asked, still confused as to why they were called in.

A sudden smirk sneaked up on Wilcome’s face that made her quite nervous. “Lewis is looking for a replacement. Our undercover unit doesn’t have anyone who will fit the part, but you would be perfect.”

“So you want me to go undercover?” she asked, still not entirely clear what they needed from her.

“Unless you don’t think you’re up to it yet,” Tylers said. His tone was more amused than condescending. She knew she was still missing something that they all found amusing. She looked over to Matthews for clarification, but he seemed just as confused about the situation in front of them.

“What do you need me to do?” she asked as she shifted her attention back to the grinning men.

Rilynne watched as the three men exchanged a pleased look before turning back to her. Whether it was due to the level of humor they saw in the situation, or the fact that they were being evasive, she was left feeling very uneasy.

Wilcome slid the file across the table to her. “We need a maid.”